Improvement in writing-pens



H. n. J. PRATT, decd.

LOUISA A. PRATT, Admrx.

. WRITING-PEN.-

No. 178,951, Patented June 20,1876.

m'yz

rag J I or" N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

LouIsA A. PRATT, or

WASHINGTON; n. J. PRATT,

Para QEFICE.

n. 0., nMINIsTR TnIx' or HENR DECEASED.

IMPROVEMENT IN WRlTlNG-PENS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.'l7S,95l, dated June 20, 1876; application filed April 5, 1876.

To all whom it'may concern.-

Be it known that HENRY D. J. PRATT, deceased, formerly of the District of Columbia, city and county of Washington, did invent a new and Improved Metallic or other Pen for Writing or Drawing, which improvement is set forth in the annexed specification, which. is a full and clear specification of the same,

, reference being bad to the accompanying drawin gs, and letters of reference marked thereon, his widow and administratrix making application for a patent for said invention.

The object of this invention is to facilitate writing, secure a better flow of ink, and form more distinct outline of characters; and consists in constructing a pen the nibs of which shall vary somewhat in length and width, and shall be turned to the right or left, according to the necessity of the writer.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use this invention, I will proceed to describe its operation and construction. a

In the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 represent the pen with right and left points. Fig. 3 is a section, showing the bevel. Fig. 4 is an exaggerated plan of the pen.

Ordinarily the left-hand side of the nib, indicated by the letter A in the drawings, Fig. 1, is broader than the right-hand side of the nib, which is designated in the drawings by the letter B, and the endof the nib is beveled off diagonally across after having flattened the under surface, so that the writing-edge of the point, when the bevel has been made, will all touch the surface of the paper. This beveling is done in such a manner as to leave the under or inside surface of the pen longer than the upper or outside surface, supposing the pen to be viewed from above, as it is used in writing. In metallic or gutta-percha pens the extreme sharpness of the lower edge and corners is removed, so as to allow a free move-. ment of the pen over the surface of the paper without cutting or scratching. The side of the nib, marked A in the drawings referred to, constructed so as to have a greater width at its extremity than that marked B, has an indentation or curve inward on its outer edge, so as to leave the outer side at a right angle with the extreme edge of the nib, or approximating a right angle, or, when desirable, at a more acute angle. In some cases the direction of the split of the pen is turned so as to have it pass through the bevel of the point at a right angle with the writing-edge of the nib. In forming the sides of the nib a slight bevel is given them from the upper or outside surface for a short distance up, the object of the combination of bcvels on the sides and ends of the nibs, all receding from the inner or inside surface of the pen, being to produce uniformity in the flow of ink, and to obviate one of the inconveniences experienced heretoforeespecially with broad-nibbed pensthe ex trenie thinness or fluidity necessary in writing-fluids causing the ink to come down upon the sides of the pens heretofore used, and to fall by gravitation so far down the nib as to bring too great a mass of the supply on the pen in contact with the surface on which the writing is being done, and the ink is then drawn from the pen upon the paper by the attraction of adhesion too freely, and thus lies unevenly upon the surface, rendering it difficult to form small loop or other letters compactly without blotting, and also causing the cleanness and evenness of edge, which adds so much to the legibility and beauty of writing, to be impaired by too free or irregular a deposit of ink. By rendering the pen thin on the end and under sides of the nib, such a result is prevented, and the ink in being deposited on the paper forms marks which in their outlines are all well-defined and smooth.

The construction of the nib as above described applies to pens to be held in the manner most common in writing, but for writers who point the upper extremity of the pen holder or handle toward the upper right-hand corner of the page on which they write, the

arrangement of the nib is reversed in constructing them.

In some cases the shanks of the pens are made with such angles in them as to admit of their use in handles or holders to be held with the upper end pointing toward the right ear or over the right shoulder, in such a manner that the two nibs, when arranged as hereinbefore described, will rest upon and move over the surface on which the writing is tobe made in the same way in which first-described ribs do. i

The elasticity of the pens may be regulated by increasing or decreasing the thickness of the springy part of them, or by the modes adopted for the same purpose in common use;

The pens heretofore described may be used with or without a feeder or fountain attachment, or with any form of apparatus for accumulating and regulating a supply of ink for the nib. 4

Having thus described this invention, it is not desired to claim, broadly, a pen having the nibs varying in width, for this is not new; but

As a new article of manufacture, a pen, the tips varying somewhat in length and width,

turned to the right or left, according to the necessity of the writer, constructed and operated substantially as described.

LOUISA A. PRATT, Adminiatmtrix of Henry D. J. Pratt, deceased.

h Witnesses:

ALEX. H. DBAPER, SAML. MILLS. 

